Rocco Van Schalkwyk

Thank you for stopping by my author site. (See also my personal website - www.xzistor.com ). I have always been very lucky as a writer. I got a break when I had my first book published at the age of 16. This was back in 1980 in South Africa and there are still some secondhand copies floating around on the internet of Sending Reijger (by Rocco Van Schalkwyk). This was in my native language of Afrikaans.

My next book a few years later was also in Afrikaans and was called Die Weerstandsbeweging van Ikaros, 2027 (by Rocco Van Schalkwyk). This book was used as a prescribed book in some schools. Then I decided to embark on a real adventure and started writing in English.

I completed a novel called Palm Stalker (by Rocco Bergh) over a couple of years and was very pleased when Penguin Books accepted it for publication. My kindhearted editor worked really hard to get the book into proper English and in the end it was a wonderful experience. One of the greatest moments of my life was when I read a review by a newspaper columnist that compared my work to that of Wilbur Smith and said: 'If Wilbur Smith wrote gentler novels, he would have written something like this...'

I was just starting to work on another novel when I became interested in the human mind. This quickly turned into an obsession to find a simple explanation for how the brain works. A philosophical journey ensued that kept me up till the small hours of the night. While still an aerospace engineer by day, I taught myself C++ and Java by night and started developing simulations and building physical robots (for photos and videos see my website - www.xzistor.com). I stumbled onto a simple solution of the brain and the more I tested it, the more I realized I might be onto something.

I patented my 'Xzistor Concept brain model' and built a simulation to test all aspects in detail. It worked. Then I built a physical robot in a learning confine and tested the brain model again. It worked. While the rest of the world was beginning to complain about the 'AI Winter', I was becoming more and more confident that that I have found something new and unique - and that there was no exception to the generality of my model. I know it is a bold thing to say but - but I am not aware of anything in my model that still requires work. I have this calmness deep inside me after 20 years of developing this system - that this architecture is indeed what drives the brain. This is quite exciting, as this means we can now build robots that can experience intelligence and emotions similar to humans.

Now, I want to immediately invite you to be the judge of what I am saying here. I expect you to be at least a little skeptical, but I have done a massive amount of research and testing of this model and started drafting a manuscript called Syntax of the Soul. But because of ethical considerations, I have decided to release this solution to the brain in small bits. I have picked two basic aspects that is well-explained by the model and I have decided to write two compact guides covering these two topics.

The two guides will be called 'Understanding Emotions: For designers of humanoid robots' and 'Understanding Intelligence: The simple truth behind the brain's ultimate secret'. Both these guides are now available on Amazon. I have tried to keep these books compact and simple, but I do recommend starting with the one on intelligence as the one on emotion does include a few graphs and diagrams. Even if you just understand the basic idea behind these guides, I am sure it will demystify the concepts of intelligence and emotion for you forever - because the truth behind these mechanisms is not something fantastical. These are 100% physical phenomena and it is just that the simple underlying logic has been eluding us all these years. How simple it really is will become clear as you spend some time with these two little books. Hope you enjoy it!